Editorial: Medical Library and Information Science: Do We Need New Journal?

Abstract

On behalf of the chairman, Prof. Abbas Haghparast, and the editorial board of the journal, I proudly announce Iran's first English-language journal in the medical library and information science area. The Journal of Medical Library and Information Science (JMLIS) is a peer-review and an open- access scientific journal that aims to publish a variety of articles by librarians, researchers, faculty members, and students of the medical library and information science. The articles accepted by the journal include research / original article, review article, letter to the editor, commentary, and case report. The journal scope includes all aspects of the medical libraries and health information sciences and related topics. The decision to publish this journal was made due to the lack of English-language journals in the field of medical library and information science in Iran; however, the journal aims to move beyond national boundaries. We are confident that the contribution and participation of Iranian researchers in this field, as well as other countries, will improve the journal's quality so that we can soon see the journal indexed in reputable national and international databases. This journal is the result of the outstanding efforts of teamwork for almost three years. The initial idea of the publishing the journal was discussed by the specialized council of the Central Library of Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences (SBMU) along with the faculty members of the Medical Library and Information Science Department of SBMU. Many face-to-face and online meetings were held by the Central Library Management, faculty members of the Medical Library and Information Science Department, and the SBMU-journals consultant, during these years to make it possible for the journal to be published in the best possible way. Besides, the publication of this journal owes much to the endless efforts of many colleagues. I would like to express my sincere gratitude to Prof. Zarghi, Vice-Chancellor of Research and Technology of SBMU for his endless support, as well as Director of Scientific Resources and Central Library of the SBMU, Chairman of the JMLIS, Editorial board members, Executive staff of the JMLIS, the faculty members of the Department of Medical Library and Information Science of SBMU and esteemed authors and reviewers of the articles, who sincerely devoted their time to realize this project. Being a professional and having a moral and scientific commitment to work without any expectations were all colleagues' characteristics that made them stand together like team members, and eliminating even one individual from this team leads to a significant gap in it. Undoubtedly, to continue this path, we need the cooperation of all professors, students, researchers, medical librarians, and health information specialists from Iran and other countries. It is hoped that publishing this journal can be a step towards promoting the medical library and information science to provide better services to the medical community.